FOI/202500460382 · FOI · not held
First Minister and Eric Trump meeting: FOI release
Information requested
Any briefing notes that Mr Swinney was provided with in advance of the meeting.
Any correspondence (including emails, letters, phone calls, handwritten notes, WhatsApp messages or any other documents) regarding this meeting- between the office of the First Minister and The Trump Organisation. Information should include but not be limited to a detailed timeline (with dates) of any contact between these individuals. Please provide this information between the dates of 1 February 2025 and 15 March 2025 inclusive.
Any correspondence (including emails, letters, phone calls, handwritten notes, WhatsApp messages or any other documents) regarding the meeting between the office of the First Minister and any Scottish Government official with a rank of deputy director or higher. Information should include but not be limited to a detailed timeline (with dates) of any contact between these individuals. Please provide this information between the dates of 1 February 2025 and 15 March 2025 inclusive.
Response
Any briefing notes that Mr Swinney was provided with in advance of the meeting.
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. You can find this attached at Annex A.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested.
An exemption under section 30(b)(i), free and frank provision of advice, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. The reason section 30(b) applies to the information requested is because disclosure of information would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.
We recognise that there is some public interest in disclosing information on UK relations as part of open government and transparency. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in protecting free and frank exchange of advice that enables Ministers and officials to conduct business and come to decisions, releasing advice provided would disrupt this process.
Any correspondence (including emails, letters, phone calls, handwritten notes, WhatsApp messages or any other documents) regarding this meeting- between the office of the First Minister and The Trump Organisation.
While our aim is to provide information wherever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you requested.
Mr Trump’s office requested a meeting with the First Minister some time ago, which was arranged for when Mr Trump was visiting Scotland. The Scottish Government does not hold the correspondence relating to the set up of this meeting.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.
Any correspondence (including emails, letters, phone calls, handwritten notes, WhatsApp messages or any other documents) regarding the meeting between the office of the First Minister and any Scottish Government official with a rank of deputy director or higher.
I enclose a copy of most of the information you requested. You can find this attached at Annex B.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested.
An exemption under section 38(1)(b), personal information, of FOISA applies to some of the information you requested because it is personal data of a third party (i.e. names/contact details of individuals), and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
This exemption is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Detected exemption language
An exemption under section 30(b)(i), free and frank provision of advice, of FOISA applies to some of the information that you requested. The reason section 30(b) applies to the information requested is because disclosure of information would, or would be likely to, inhibit substantially the free and frank provision of advice. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemptions. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.